Best Art Director programs in New York, ranked by enrollment
Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film.
49 schools in New York run programs that feed this job, graduating 696 people a year. The job pays a median of $137,320 in New York across about 8,720 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in New York that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in New York that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in New York (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own New York page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0409In New York → | 400 | 57.5% | 28 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0102In New York → | 252 | 36.2% | 22 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0706In New York → | 44 | 6.3% | 4 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
Top 25 schools in New York
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 17 of the 49 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CUNY Queensborough Community College Bayside, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 57 | Digital Arts | — | 24% | — | — |
| 2 | Suffolk County Community College Selden, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 51 | Digital Arts | $23,694 | 29% | — | — |
| 3 | Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Graphic Design | $34,709 | 70% | $28,133 | 67% |
| 4 | Fashion Institute of Technology New York, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Graphic Design | $14,361 | 81% | — | 60% |
| 5 | Marist University Poughkeepsie, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Intermedia/Multimedia | $31,907 | 80% | $33,867 | 57% |
| 6 | State University of New York at New Paltz New Paltz, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Graphic Design | $34,677 | 72% | — | 62% |
| 7 | Adelphi University Garden City, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Graphic Design | — | 67% | $27,326 | 66% |
| 8 | State University of New York at Oswego Oswego, NY Public · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Graphic Design | $32,546 | 60% | — | 81% |
| 9 | Monroe Community College Rochester, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Graphic Design | $27,718 | 27% | — | — |
| 10 | Rockland Community College Suffern, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Graphic Design | — | 29% | — | — |
| 11 | SUNY at Purchase College Purchase, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Graphic Design | — | 63% | — | 74% |
| 12 | The New School New York, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Graphic Design | $24,804 | 69% | $54,185 | 63% |
| 13 | CUNY Bronx Community College Bronx, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Digital Arts | $18,700 | 16% | — | — |
| 14 | Manhattan University Riverdale, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Digital Arts | — | 64% | $26,807 | 79% |
| 15 | SUNY Oneonta Oneonta, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Digital Arts | $19,135 | 69% | — | 70% |
| 16 | Daemen University Amherst, NY Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 17 | Digital Arts | — | 59% | $16,826 | 68% |
| 17 | Finger Lakes Community College Canandaigua, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Graphic Design | — | 30% | — | — |
| 18 | St. John's University - New York Queens, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Graphic Design | — | 66% | $27,359 | 83% |
| 19 | SUNY Old Westbury Old Westbury, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Digital Arts | — | 45% | — | 84% |
| 20 | SUNY Buffalo State University Buffalo, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Graphic Design | — | 33% | — | 73% |
| 21 | State University of New York at Cortland Cortland, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Digital Arts | — | 68% | — | 60% |
| 22 | SUNY College of Technology at Canton Canton, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Graphic Design | — | 38% | — | 92% |
| 23 | SUNY College at Potsdam Potsdam, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Digital Arts | — | 45% | — | 78% |
| 24 | SUNY College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill Cobleskill, NY Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Graphic Design | — | 42% | — | 84% |
| 25 | Long Island University Brookville, NY Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Digital Arts | — | 57% | $24,639 | 86% |
All 49 schools in New York
Every school in New York with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CUNY Queensborough Community College | Bayside | Public | 57 | 1 |
| Suffolk County Community College | Selden | Public | 51 | 2 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology | Rochester | Private not-for-profit | 46 | 1 |
| Fashion Institute of Technology | New York | Public | 37 | 1 |
| Marist University | Poughkeepsie | Private not-for-profit | 31 | 1 |
| State University of New York at New Paltz | New Paltz | Public | 31 | 1 |
| Adelphi University | Garden City | Private not-for-profit | 30 | 1 |
| State University of New York at Oswego | Oswego | Public | 27 | 2 |
| Monroe Community College | Rochester | Public | 26 | 1 |
| Rockland Community College | Suffern | Public | 24 | 1 |
| SUNY at Purchase College | Purchase | Public | 24 | 1 |
| The New School | New York | Private not-for-profit | 21 | 1 |
| CUNY Bronx Community College | Bronx | Public | 20 | 1 |
| Manhattan University | Riverdale | Private not-for-profit | 18 | 1 |
| SUNY Oneonta | Oneonta | Public | 18 | 1 |
What art directors earn in New York
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $114,850. New York pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: New York employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in New York
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Art Directors page.
How to become a Art Director
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in New York
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Art Directors3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0102Digital Arts
- 50.0409Graphic Design
- 50.0706Intermedia/Multimedia
Common questions
Answers for people weighing art directors programs in New York.
What degree do you need to become an Art Director?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Graphic Design, which awarded 400 degrees in New York in 2024-25, 57.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Art Director?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, Fine and Studio Arts. Together they graduate about 696 people a year in New York.
How much do art directors earn in New York?+
The median is $137,320 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 19.6% above the U.S. median of $114,850. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for art directors growing?+
BLS projects a +4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 12,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in New York?+
49 institutions in New York reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do art directors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Art Director, Design Director, Creative Services Director, Creative Director (CD Director) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card